Mr Monk and the Cross of Changes
by Emma Barrows
Summary: What happens when there's something killing people in San Fransciso and Monk can't solve the case?


Mr. Monk and the Cross of Changes

Midnight, October 31st

Emali Park

"James I don't think we should be out here it's late," whispered 20 year old Lisa Banners to her 21 year old boy friend, James Tanner.

"Please Lisa. Nothing's going to happen to us. It's Halloween, it's fun to be scared," He said chuckling as they headed through the park. Above, a full moon peered out from behind several thick clouds bathing them in a silver glow. The park was deserted for this time of night and it was foreboding. Lisa's green eyes were wide with fear. She couldn't believe she let James talk her into this. When they got home, Lisa was going to kill him for dragging her out here. As they reached the center of the park, which was used for a children's playground, a howl rose up from somewhere in the thick tree line. Lisa froze immediately.

"James, what is that?" she whispered frightened.

"It's probably someone's dog come on!" he said tugging her hand. She went a few more steps before she spied a pair of eyes reflecting the moonlight behind one of the tree trunks before it vanished quickly. She stopped again.

"James, there's something out there please!" she whispered shaking badly. James finally stopped. They heard rustling in the bushes. James put Lisa behind him protective.

"What is it?" she stammered in fear.

"I don't know," he said now picking up on her fear. Whatever it was, was circling them. They could feel it. Then, where was absolute silence. Their hearts hammered in their chest and their breathing was rapid. The only sound they heard now was their own terrified breathing. Suddenly, something lunged out from behind a thick bush and grabbed James' ankles, yanking him down. Lisa screamed and tried to grab him but it was too late. Whatever had him dragged him into the bushes. There was snarling and James screaming. Lisa felt a warm liquid spray onto her face. She raised a hand and wiped it off. When she lowered it, there was blood on it. She screamed and turned to run. Whatever had gotten James suddenly grabbed her from behind and lifted her off the ground. She was screaming and then, it tossed her against the nearest tree. Her back hit it, snapping her spine in half. She fell to the ground dead. Another howl rose up.

THE NEXT MORNING

"Two joggers found him this morning," said Captain Leland Stottlemeyer as he led Adrian Monk and Natalie Teeger under the yellow and black crime scene tape that was wrapped around the perimeter of a scene. The Coroners van was parked, ready to remove the bodies. Lt. Randall Disher was crouched down beside one of the bodies. He looked up when Captain Stottlemeyer approached. Captain Stottlemeyer was in his 40's with short gray hair and a mustache. He was dressed in a gray suit and tie. His badge was clipped to his belt, along with his gun, which was in its holster. Randy was dressed similar, with wheat colored short brown hair and blue eyes. Adrian was dressed in his normal camel brown suit jacket and a plaid shirt underneath buttoned all the way up, and matching slacks and black shoes. He had short curly brown hair, almost black and brown eyes. Natalie was dressed in a navy shirt and a white blouse. Her blond hair blew softly in the breeze. Randy looked up.

"Oh good you're here," Randy said to Adrian who crouched down next to Randy. "The police suspect it's a wild dog that got a hold of them."

Randy snapped on a pair of gloves and pulled back the blue tarp that covered one body. It was a male, in his 20's. His throat had been torn, and he had been badly mauled. Adrian pressed the top of his wrist against his nose. The smell was horrible, but there was something else mixed in with the normal smell of death.

"How long has the body been here?" Adrian asked.

"Um, from the way the body is I'd say it happened midnight last night," Randy said.

"The police suspect a dog?" Adrian asked standing up straighter. Captain Stottlemeyer nodded.

Natalie's eyes landed on a pale pink object in the bushes to the right, about a few feet from the body.

"Captain, what's that?" She asked pointing. They all headed over to it. Randy pushed aside the bushes, exposing the body of a girl, who was bent at an unnatural angle.

"My God," Captain Stottlemeyer breathed shocked.

Adrian Monk peered in. He turned to Stottlemeyer. "Captain, I don't think this was a dog. The marks on the body are nearly six inches deep. No dog in the world has nails like that. And the bite radius on the neck is about double that. A normal dog couldn't have done this."

"Captain! Over here!" a police officer called waving.

When they got to where the officer was, he was crouched over a extremely odd footprint. It was about 12 inches long and had the normal human impression, however, there were pad marks and looks part canine. Captain Stottlemeyer looked at Adrian, who looked perplexed…which was a first for him and that made the captain nervous himself.

Back at the station, Captain Stottlemeyer got off the phone with the Coroner. He looked up at Randy, Natalie and Adrian.

"The Coroner ID'd the bodies. They were Lisa Banners and James Tanner. They were reported missing early this morning. Their family's claim they went out for a walk around midnight last night and never returned"

"Whatever killed them wasn't a dog that's for certain," Adrian mused, slowly pacing back and forth. "The evidence doesn't point to that at all."

"Then what is it?" Captain asked him studying him.

"I don't know," Adrian admitted sounding surprised. "For the first time I am not sure but it wasn't a dog."

Captain Stottlemeyer sat and sighed. "I have no idea what I'm going to tell the press. Normally we have a suspect and idea behind a homicide…now we've got no idea or a suspect,"

Just then, there was a knock on the door to the captain's office. A woman stood there with shoulder length dark brown hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, a gray and white sequined top and a black velvet short jacket over that. There were a pair of gold hoop earrings in her ears and around her neck was a small five pointed star necklace choker, on a black velvet ribbon. Around her head was a glitter headband. She had on dark eyeliner and smoky gray eyes shadow. Her cheeks were naturally rosy and her lips were soft pink with clear lip gloss over them. She looked part gothic but yet looked chic. Her eyes roamed over everyone until they landed on Randy. She broke into a grin, flashing perfect white teeth.

"Oh I'm sorry guys. This is Gail Rossum. She is my best friend. She and I met in college," Randy said proudly.

GAIL ROSSUM

I stood there, feeling a bit awkward while everyone stared at me. But then, they came around and a pretty blond haired woman came up to me and shook my hand.

"Hi I'm Natalie Teeger. This is Adrian Monk, my boss," she introduced herself cheerfully. I smiled and shook her hand back. I knew Adrian was funny about things, so I gently closed my hand and touched knuckles with him, the way Randy explained that Captain Stottlemeyer did sometimes. He smiled and nodded.

"Randy has told me all about you guys," I said softly. "It's finally nice to meet you."

Captain Stottlemeyer got up and shook my hand too. He seemed humble a bit and shy. Randy stood next to me.

"I asked her to come out here for a bit. We haven't seen one another in a long time," Randy explained brightly playfully bumping my shoulder with his. "She arrived yesterday. When I got off work we were going to catch up on things."

"You're welcome to join us Gail," Captain Stottlemeyer said. "But we had a homicide last night around midnight. Two people were killed in Emali Park."

"Oh no," I said. "What happened?"

"We don't know. One body was badly mauled the other her spine was snapped in half. Coroner suspects she was thrown against a tree." Randy informed me.

"Mind if I take a look?" I offered. "I studied zoology and crypto zoology back in college for about 2 years."

Captain Stottlemeyer hesitated for a moment before handing me over the crime scene photos. I stepped forward and took them from him. One was of a young man. His throat was ripped out and he was mauled. The other was of a girl, who was lying at a strange angle.

She had no marks on her at all. I studied the male. I looked up at Adrian. He was supposed to be the greatest detective out there.

"What do you think did this, Mr. Monk?" I asked him softly handing the pictures back to Captain Stottlemeyer. He had his hands facing one another, fingertips touching one another. He rolled one shoulder.

"I have no idea. This is the first time when I honestly cannot say," he said sounding defeated and alarmed. "But it wasn't a wild dog."

"You're right," I said. "It wasn't a wild dog." I paused and felt all their eyes on me watching. "It looks like a wolf."

"A wolf? Are you sure? There are no wolves in San Francisco," Captain Stottlemeyer said sounding shocked. I nodded.

"That's absolutely right again," I said. "But unfortunately, the marks on the boys' body were not done by a dog. A pit bull wouldn't even match up to the bite radius. I think you might have a rogue wolf on your hands."

Everyone looked stunned.

"Ok, well I'll call animal control and put out a bulletin," Captain Stottlemeyer said picking up the phone.

"No," I said quickly. "That won't work. Wolves, especially lone wolves, can be dangerous. I say we try and capture it alive then return it to its natural habitat. I don't think it mean to come this far into the city. It's probably sticking around warehouses and subways. It's shelter but yet it's close to a food source."

Captain Stottlemeyer nodded. "What do you suggest we do?"

"That might've been a rogue attack," I said. "We're gonna have to wait and see. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it could've been an isolated attack."

They looked at one another but nodded. Randy turned to me.

"Do you have a place to stay?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"No," I said earnestly. "I had a bad feeling so I flew out right away. I didn't have a chance to book hotels or anything."

"A bad feeling?" Natalie asked curiously. I nodded.

"I can't explain it but I just knew I had to come out here,"

"You can stay with me," Randy offered. "I've got enough room."

"Or, you can stay with me," Natalie offered eyeing Randy. "I have a daughter Julie so it can be like a girl's thing."

She beamed at me and I couldn't help it. I nodded and grinned. "Sure,"

Natalie squealed in delight and took my hand, leading me out of the room. As I was leaving, I heard Mr. Monk whispering to Captain Stottlemeyer.

"Captain, there's something off about her. I can't put my finger on it but I have a strange feeling about her,"


End file.
